Air conditioners for processing sensible heat of a room by supplying to the room humidity-adjusted air and humidity controllers for processing latent heat a room by supplying to the room humidity-adjusted air have hitherto been known.
For example, there is disclosed in Patent Document 1 an air conditioner in which a refrigerant circulates in a refrigerating circuit to perform a cycle of steam compression and refrigeration. To the refrigerating circuit of the air conditioner, a compressor, a room heat exchanger, an expansion valve, an outdoor heat exchanger, and a four-way selector valve are connected. In this air conditioner, the circulating direction of the refrigerant is reversible through switching of the four-way selector valve, and switching between refrigerating operation and heating operation is made possible. For example, in the refrigerating operation, air conditioned in the room heat exchanger, which serves as an evaporator, is supplied to the room, thus refrigerating the room. In the heating operation, air heated in the room heat exchanger, which serves as a condenser, is supplied to the room, thus heating the room space.
Still further, for example, in Patent Document 2, there is known a humidity controller in which an adsorption heat exchanger supporting an adsorbing agent which performs adsorption of moisture is connected to a refrigerant circuit. This humidity controller is arranged such that the above-mentioned adsorption heat exchanger functions as an evaporator or a condenser as the circulating direction of the refrigerant switches, thereby enabling the operation to switch between the dehumidifying operation and the humidifying operation. For example, in the dehumidifying operation, the adsorbing agent is refrigerated by the refrigerant evaporating in the adsorption heat exchanger. When air passes through the adsorption heat exchanger, the refrigerated adsorbing agent and the air come into contact with one another, with moisture of the air being adsorbed by this adsorbing agent. The air dehumidified by providing moisture to the adsorbing agent is supplied to the room, thereby dehumidifying the room. On the other hand, in the humidifying operation, the adsorbing agent is heated by the refrigerant condensed in the adsorption heat exchanger. When air passes through the adsorption heat exchanger, the heated adsorbing agent and the air come into contact with one another, with the moisture adsorbed in the adsorbing agent being released. The air humidified by containing this moisture is supplied to the room, thereby humidifying the room.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-106609
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-294048